Veteran screenwriter Javed Akhtar, in a conversation with Barkha Dutt, said his wife Shabana Azmi and he are "hardly married". "We are friends. My only qualification for a good marriage is this: Are you friends or...not?" he added. Javed said, "Shaadi-waadi toh bekaar kaam hai (Marriage is nonsense)...It's a stone that has been rolled down mountains for centuries."